Civil Society Participation in Poverty Reduction Processes: Who is getting a seat at the pro-poor table?

Abstract

The paper starts from the observation that the PRSP logic uses input output logic, meaning that it supposes that the input of ‘civil society participation’ into the policy cycle will inevitably lead to the output of poverty reduction. We argue that ‘civil society participation’ is a very vague concept and can constitute very different things depending on who is actually participating, who they represent, what influence they can yield... Consequently the type of input will also determine the extent to which the expected output will in fact be delivered and thus how civil society participation will ultimately contribute to poverty reduction. We test empirically what factors explain CSO participation in PRSP participatory processes based on data gathered from Honduran civil society organizations.